Burner wick and holder



June 7, 1938. D. LUMSD EN BURNER WICK AND HOLDER Filed Dec. 21, 1955 2Sheets-Sheet l v I .Davia flum ddezv.

d ln 1 1 I l June 7, 1938. D. LUMSDEN BURNER WICK AND HOLDER 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 21, 1935 Dal i d L amiden.

Patented June 7, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BURNER WICK AND HOLDERDavid Lumsden, Sikeston, Mo.

Application December 21, 1935, Serial No. 55,644

1 Claim.

This invention relates to an improved burner particularly adapted foruse in connection with a water heater, and one object of the inventionis to provide a burner adapted to burn liquid fuel such as coal oil, theburner including a main wick and an auxiliary wick so associated withthe main wick that fuel may be fed through a single pipe to both themain wick and the auxiliary wick.

Another object of the invention is to so mount the auxiliary wick thatit may be very easily vertically adjusted independent of the main \vickand also removed and a new one set in place without disturbing the mainwick.

Another object of the invention is to provide the auxiliary wick whichserves as a pilot light with a casing formed of sheet metal and soconstructed that it serves not only as a shield for the auxiliary wickbut also as a tube through which oil can be fed to the pan in which themain wick is seated.

Another object of the invention is to so form the lower portion of thecasing for the auxiliary wick that the wick can be very easily insertedor removed therefrom and in addition so form this lower portion of thecasing that the wick can become thoroughly saturated with oil and theoil readily pass upwardly through the wick and the casing and enter thepan through side openings formed in the casing.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, whereinFigure 1 is a view showing a burner and associated parts provided withthe improved arrangement of main and auxiliary wicks.

Figure 2 is a sectional view upon an enlarged scale taken verticallythrough the burner along the line 22 of Figure 3.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the burner.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 44 ofFigure 3.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the casing for the auxiliary wick.

In the accompanying drawings, the numeral l indicates the lower portionof a water heater in which the improved burner is mounted, as shown inFigure 1, and it will be understood that this heater may be of anydesired construction which will permit water to be heated by hotproducts of combustion passing upwardly through the same from the burnerwhich is mounted in the lower portion of the heater. This heater has anannular fuel pan 2 which is U-shaped in cross section, as shown inFigure 2, and open at its top. Inner and outer walls of the fuel pancarry circumferentially extending flanges or ledges 3 and 4 at theirupper ends and these flanges are provided about their margins withupstanding lips 5 and 6 by means of which inner and outer combustiontubes or cylinders 1 and 8 of perforated metal are retained in placeupon the ledges. The outer chimney or hood 9, which is also formed ofmetal, rises from a collar I!) carried by the outer combustion tube andthe usual openings II are provided in this collar in order that thenecessary air may enter the chimney. The main wick l2, which may beformed of asbestos or any other suitable material, is seated in the pan2 with its ends terminating at opposite sides of an opening formed inthe bottom of the pan so that fuel may enter the pan from a nipple l3depending from the pan and upon referring to Figures 2 and 4 it will beseen that the auxiliary wick l4 extends vertically in the pan 2 betweenends of the main wick. The auxiliary wick has its upper end even withthe upper edge of the main wick, as clearly shown in Figure 2 and,therefore, the auxiliary wick may burn freely when the main wick isextinguished due to lack of fuel in the pan 2 and serve very effectivelyas a pilot to ignite the main wick when fuel flows into the pan and istaken up by the main wick. This auxiliary wick is enclosed in a tubularcasing l5 which is constructed as shown in Figure 5, and formed from asheet metal blank having meeting edge faces l5. Referring to this figureit'will be seen that from the lower end of the tubular casing thereextends an arm or tongue [5 having its lower portion bent transverselyas shown at I! and then upwardly to provide a tongue I8 terminating inspaced relation to the casing. The casing is of such length that when itis in place it extends from the open upper end of the trough or fuel pan2 to the lower end of the neck IQ of the nipple l3 and the arm extendsdownwardly through the nipple to a point adjacent the lower end thereof.By this arrangement, the wick may become thoroughly saturated withliquid fuel in the nipple and the auxiliary wick will continue to burnas a pilot after the main wick is extinguished by lack of fuel in thefuel pan. Openings 20 are formed in the tubular casing at opposite sidesthereof, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, and as these openings are locatedabove the bottom of the fuel pan, oil may flow through these openingsinto the fuel pan. It will thus be seen that the tubular casing servesas a carrier for the auxiliary wick and also as a tube through which oilmay be fed into the fuel pan. As the auxiliary wick is encased in thetubular casing it can be Very easily set in place or removed whennecessary and also the main wick may be removed for cleaning orreplacement by a new wick without disturbing the auxiliary wick.

In order to supply fuel to the burner, there has been provided a pipe 2|leading from the depending neck 22 of a cup 23 and connected with thenipple. An arm 26 projects upwardly from the pipe 2| and at its upperend communicates with an auxiliary oil cup 21 having its upper endclosed by a removable cap 29. The length of time the main wick will burnafter flow of oil has been shut ofi is controlled by a disc 3i ofpredetermined thickness placed in the cup upon supports 30.

The cup 01' chamber 23 extends upwardly above the level of the cup 21and its cap 32 has a neck 33 with which a supply pipe 34 is connected.Oil flows from the cup 23 through the pipe 2| into the auxiliary cup 21and also through the nipple l3 and the tubular casing l5 of theauxiliary wick into the oil pan or trough 2. A valve seat 3? is providedat the lower end of a perforated tube 35 extending vertically in the cup23 from the passage 35 of the neck 23 and through this tube extends astem 38 having a valve head 39 at its lower end which shuts off fiow ofoil from the cup when seated against the valve seat 3?. The upper end ofthe stem 38 is pivoted to one end of a rocker arm 40 which has its otherend pivoted to the lower end of a rod 42 constituting part of aconventional thermostat mechanism for causing the arm to move downwardlywhen water which is being heated attains a predetermined temperature.When the valve is closed, the main wick will continue burning until thelevel of the oil which is normally at the height indicated by the dotand dash line AA has been reduced to such a level that it is below themain wick l2 and this wick will be extinguished due to lack of fuel. Thepilot wick will, however, continue burning and, when the temperature ofthe water has been reduced to a predetermined temperature and the rod 42is drawn upwardly to move the valve 39 off the seat and allow oil tofill the auxiliary chamber 21 and the oil pan 2, the wick I2 will beignited from the pilot wick. In order to maintain oil in the main'chamber or cup 23 at the normal level indicated by the dot and dash linepreviously referred to, there has been provided a float 43 which ispivoted to a hinge ear 44 and carries a spring strip 41 from which risesan upwardly extending needle valve 48 adapted to enter and close theopening 49 formed in a disc 50 which constitutes a bottom for the upperchamber 5| of the neck 33. When the float is in the raised positionshown in Figure 1, the needle valve will shut off flow of oil from thechamber 5| but as the oil is consumed and the float moves downwardly theneedle valve moves to an open position and allows additional oil to flowinto the main chamber.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

In a device of the character described, a wick, and a casing for saidwick having a tubular body open at its upper and lower ends and providedwith side openings, and a tongue extending downwardly from said casingat one side thereof with its lower portion bent laterally under thecasing in spaced relation thereto and then upwardly to provide awick-protecting shield having a side wall extending downwardly from thelower end of the body of the casing and a second side wall spaceddownwardly from the body of the casing.

DAVID LUMSDEN.

